Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan and Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles, both members of the Saskatchewan Party, were in attendance to answer questions and learn more about concerns at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division meeting on Wednesday.

The first question addressed to the MLAs was regarding the inequalities between the public school divisions and the faith-based school division. This has become an issue since the amalgamations made larger public school divisions.

Eagles and Duncan agreed that the current government needs to stop funneling money into the larger centres and focus on rural communities.

"While we are seeing schools close around here, money is funneled into Regina and Saskatoon," Eagles said.

Eagles suggested that a possible solution to the problem would be stop basing the funding on cost per student, but cost per program. Duncan added that, since this will probably be an election year, the Sask. Party is currently putting together a platform.

According to Duncan, the Party's platform for education has two parts. The first part would be short-term relief for the school boards and the second part is long-term changes.

"We saw some short-term relief by the (NDP) government, but what we didn't see was any long-term changes," Duncan said.

Duncan and Eagles also posed the question of where the Sask. Party stands on separate school divisions and faith-based school divisions.

"In the charter there is a right to faith-based education," said Eagles. "I'm not a Catholic, but I believe when we take God out of the schools we are bringing in guns."

The MLAs added that their party's platform includes both public and faith-based school divisions. They added that the amalgamation for public school divisions did not save the government money, which could have been used for faith-based divisions.

"I think we all agree that we need to look at education not as a cost, but an investment," Duncan said.

Eagles and Duncan were also asked how the Sask. Party would keep students in the province for their post-secondary education. The MLAs agreed that they do have a lot of competition from Alberta and Manitoba.

Eagles said that Alberta offers primarily jobs, while Manitoba has an incentive plan to keep students in the province.

"One thing we need to do is long-term predictable funding of post-secondary schools and trade schools," added Duncan.

Coterminous boundaries (having the same boundaries with other school divisions) was another issue brought up during the discussion. Duncan and Eagles wanted to hear how the board felt about coterminous boundaries.

The board felt that there are a lot of obstacles in the way to get more boundaries for faith-based school divisions. The board also wants to give the students the option of Catholic education.

The issue of where land taxes go was brought up during the coterminous boundaries discussion. Duncan and Eagles found out that not many people realize they have the option of declaring their taxes to public education or Catholic education.

As for keeping the boundaries the same, the MLAs were not sure whether the Sask. Party would or not. They felt it was something they would have to discuss with education critic Rod Gantefoer.

"I would hesitate to say we would change the boundaries because it just happened and it cost a lot of money," Duncan said.

The board asked Duncan and Eagles about negative grant boards and what can be done. This past year, many of the rural areas were hit hard because they were in a negative grant area.

"I can't make a promise on what we will do until we know what resources we have," said Eagles. "Who knows what kind of mess the books will be."

Duncan said that he would like to see more of the general revenue spent on education and find a more equal way to fund education other than property taxes.

This past year Holy Family changed their budget year to follow the school calendar. The board was wondering if the province could change their budget year to better fit the school boards' budgets.

"It has never been the same because our expenditures are during the school year," said director of education Shelley Rowein.

Eagles and Duncan said that they realize that other groups such as the health district have the same problem. They added that they will take the concern, along with the others discussed, back to Gantefoer.

In the end, the board felt they had a good discussion and were thankful to have the opportunity to voice their questions and concerns to their local representatives.

During the board meeting, Holy Family passed a motion to create school community councils. An election will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 28 to elect the members of the school community councils.

A parent and community meeting will be held by the board on Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. at St. Michael School regarding the renovation project. This meeting will be similar to the one held last May, where parents and community members will have the opportunity to view the project and voice their questions and concerns before a final decision is made.

The board also passed a motion to have consultant Ellery Peters, at a cost of $14,000, to develop an operations, policies and procedures manual for the school division. Other options the board looked at included Rowein and Peters working together and reduce the cost or Rowein working on the manual by herself. The board felt that the manual has been held back too long and felt it was worth the money to get it done as soon as possible.

"As much as I hate to spend $14,000, I don't think Shelley has the time to do this," said board chairman Bruno Tuchscherer.

Plans for a Committee of the Whole meeting from Friday, Jan. 26, to Saturday, Jan. 27, were discussed. The meeting will focus on the board's policies and strategic planning.